J 


V 


,.-* 


^SToTp«^ 


JAN  20  1932 


V 


jflemorial  of  ti)e  CI)tu*ri)  m  Prattle  Square. 


A 


DISCOURSE 


PREACHED  IN  THE  CHURCH  IN  BRATTLE  SQUARE, 


Last  Sunday  of  its  use  for  Public  Worship, 


July  30,   1S71. 


BY 

SAMUEL   K.  LOTHROP,  D.D., 

pastor  of   the    society. 


WITH   AN   APPENDIX, 


AN    ACCOUNT    OF    LAYING    THE    CORNER-STONE    OF    THE 
NEW   CHURCH. 


BOSTON: 

PRESS    OF    JOHN    WILSON    AND    SON. 

1S71. 


Boston,  Aug.  3,  1S71. 


Rev.  Dr.  Lothrop. 


Dear  Sir, — The  Standing  Committee  of  the  Church  and  Society 
in  Brattle  Square  respectfully  ask  of  you  a  copy  of  your  able  and 
eloquent  Sermon,  preached  on  the  occasion  of  holding  religious  services 
for  the  last  time  in  Brattle  Square. 

The  Committee  propose  to  have  the  Sermon  printed  in  pamphlet 
form,  and  to  place  a  copy  with  the  archives  of  the  church. 

With  the  highest  considerations  of  respect  and  esteem,  we  remain 
your  friends  and  servants, 

Franklin  Haven,       Abram  French, 


John  Gardner, 
J.  P.  Healy, 
Benj.  P.  Cheney, 
Eben'r  Dale, 
Geo.  W.  Palmer, 


Chas.  Lyman, 
Christopher  T.  Thayer, 
T.  Quincy  Browne, 
O.  W.  Peabody,  and 
J.  T.  Bradlee. 


Lewis  B.  Bailey,  Clerk. 


Boston,  Sept.  20,  1871. 

To    the    Standing    Committee    of    the    Church    and    Society 
worshipping   in   Brattle   Square. 

Gentlemen, — Your  letter  of  Aug.  3  received  immediate  attention 
after  my  return  from  my  vacation.  I  am  gratified  to  find  that  I  met  an 
occasion  of  so  much  interest  to  all  of  us  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  my 
parishioners  and  friends.  From  my  own  notes,  and  the  very  full  and 
accurate  reports  in  the  newspapers,  I  have  prepared  a  copy  of  my 
Sermon  for  publication,  which  I  herewith  submit  to  your  disposal. 

With  the  highest  regard,  and  many  pleasant  and  grateful  recollec- 
tions, I  am,  gentlemen,  very  sincerely  j'our  friend  and  pastor, 


S.    K.   LOTHROP. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://archive.org/details/mechurchOOIoth 


DISCOURSE. 


"  "pNLARGE  the  place  of  thy  tent,  and  let  them 
-L'  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  thine  habita- 
tions, .  .  .  and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  chil- 
dren." Thus  saith  the  prophet  Isaiah,  in  this  54th 
chapter.  "  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Father  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship 
him."  Thus  spake  the  blessed  Master,  in  conver- 
sation with  the  woman  of  Samaria,  recorded  in  the 
4th  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel.  Both  these  scrip- 
tures are  appropriate  mottoes  for  our  thoughts  this 
day,  which,  though  it  looks  to  the  future,  belongs 
largely  to  the  past.  We  meet  for  the  last  time  on 
this  spot,  which,  for  more  than  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years,  has  been  consecrated  to  the  worship 
of  Almighty  God.  We  come  to  bid  farewell  for 
ever  to  this  grand  and  noble  old  church,  which  has 
stood,  for  nearly  a  century,  a  monument  testifying 
to  the  faith  and  piety  of  our  Fathers;    and  which, 


to  some  of  us,  from  our  earliest  childhood,  and  to 
all  of  us  for  long,  long  years,  has  been  the  religious 
home  of  our  souls,  full  of  all  tender  and  sacred 
associations.  Naturally,  our  thoughts  revert  to  the 
past  ;  and  to  gather  up  the  lessons  of  that  past,  as 
the}'  are  presented  in  the  history  of  this  church, 
in  the  spirit,  purpose,  and  principles  in  which  it 
originated,  and  to  which  it  has  ever  faithfully  ad- 
hered, —  this  becomes  at  once  a  grateful  pleasure, 
and  a  sacred  duty. 

An}'  reference  to  the  times,  any  study  of  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  this  church  originated, 
brings  up  to  our  thoughts  the  emphatic  declaration 
of  the  Master  :  "Thou  shalt  worship  the  Father  in 
spirit  and  in  truth,"  —  a  declaration  that  does  not 
forbid  nor  denounce  nor  dispense  with  forms,  but 
which,  while  it  permits  a  large  liberty  in  relation  to 
them,  does  require  that  they  be  simple  and  appro- 
priate; that  faith  accept  them;  that  the  heart  vitalize 
them;  and  that  thus  they  become  a  sincere  expres- 
sion of  thought  and  feeling,  and  help  to  quicken, 
enlarge,  and  invigorate  the  thought,  the  feeling, 
the  faith  and  piety  which  they  are  designed  to 
express. 

Always  in  the  church,  as  in  all  civil  and  social 
life,  there  have  been  exhibited  two  opposing  ten- 
dencies, —  the  one  tendency  favoring  freedom  and 
simplicity  in  the  forms  and  administration  of  relig- 


ion;  the  other  favoring  authority,  and  more  or  less 
of  imposing  ceremony  and  ritualistic  display.  The 
latter  tendency  finds  its  culmination  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  the  former  one  of  its  strong- 
est manifestations  in  that  English  Puritanism,  which, 
disheartened  by  persecution  and  ill  success  at  home, 
came  to  New  England  in  the  persons  of  some  of 
its  noblest  and  most  devoted  disciples,  that  here  it 
might  have  freedom,  and  establish  a  church  without 
a  bishop,  and  a  State  without  a  king;  or,  rather,  that 
it  might  establish  a  church  that  should  be  the  State, 
and  a  State  that  should  be  the  church.  This  was 
the  great  mistake  of  early  New-England  Puritan- 
ism,—  the  point  wherein  it  limited  or  violated  free- 
dom, if  not  simplicity.  Though  in  many  respects 
grand  and  glorious,  Puritanism  was  an  extreme, 
overlooking,  in  the  culture  and  administration  of  re- 
ligion, some  useful  and  important  elements  of  hu- 
man nature  which  ought  never  to  be  disregarded; 
and,  in  other  respects,  adopting  various  peculiarities, 
which  had  little  or  nothing  to  recommend  them, 
save  that  they  were  the  very  opposite  of  prelative 
usages,  to  which  it  was  bound  by  all  means  not  to 
conform.  Puritanism  would  not  use  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  in  public  or  private,  because  the  "  Book  of 
Common  Prayer"  required  its  repetition  several 
times  in  some,  and  once  in  all  its  services.  Puri- 
tanism would  not  read  the  Scriptures  in  public  wor- 


8 

ship,  because  the  K  Book  of  Common  Prayer " 
required  a  monthly  repetition  of  the  Psalms,  and  a 
full  and  systematic  reading  of  large  portions  of 
the  Bible,  in  the  course  of  the  year.  And,  for  the 
same  reason,  because  the  rr  Book  of  Common 
Prayer"  provided  for  various  chants  and  singings, 
Puritanism  would  sing  but  once,  in  any  public  ser- 
vice. Puritanism  neglected  altogether  the  aesthetic 
element  in  human  nature;  and  for  religious  expres- 
sion, for  the  quickening  of  the  religious  sensibili- 
ties, it  scorned  all  use  of  that  sense  of  the  beautiful, 
the  grand,  and  imposing,  to  which  God  constantly 
appeals,  in  the  solemn  magnificence  of  the  uni- 
verse. A  stern,  cold,  and  uninviting  simplicity 
of  form  and  outward  service,  resting  upon  nothing, 
appealing  to  nothing  but  the  spirit  of  faith  and 
piety,  and  appealing  to  these  through  logic  and 
argument,  rather  than  the  tender  and  sympathetic 
elements  of  our  nature,  —  this  was  the  distinctive, 
characteristic  feature  of  Puritanism  in  New  Eng- 
land. 

But  its  great  mistake  was  in  undertaking  to  com- 
bine the  church  and  State,  and  confine  citizenship, 
with  all  its  rights  and  prerogatives,  to  church  mem- 
bers. Such  an  exclusive  and  arbitrary  rule  could 
not  last  long.  It  could  only  prevail  during  the 
lives  of  the  original  emigrants,  who  were  all  church 
members,  and   were   moved  to  voluntary  exile  for 


conscience's  sake;  and  as  soon  as  that  generation 
passed,  as  early  as  1662,  this  disability  was  removed, 
and  every  freeholder  became  a  citizen,  with  a  vote 
and  a  voice  in  all  public  affairs.  But,  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters,  in  the  management  of  religious  socie- 
ties and  parishes,  the  church  —  technically  speaking, 
—  the  communicants  still  struggled,  first  for  abso- 
lute and  exclusive  control,  and  then  for  the  right  to 
take  the  initiatory  steps,  and  direct  the  movements 
of  the  parish. 

Just  at  this  point,  we  find  the  germ  of  this  old 
Brattle-Square  Church  and  Society.  It  did  not  origi- 
nate in  any  quarrel,  nor  in  any  separation  from  any 
other  church  in  the  town.  It  did  not  originate  in 
any  dispute  or  controversy  upon  points  of  theologi- 
cal doctrine.  Its  source  was  simply  a  determined 
purpose,  on  the  part  of  its  founders,  to  establish  a 
new  religious  society,  in  which  the  Gospel  and  its 
ordinances  should  be  administered  upon  a  more 
liberal  and  generous  plan  than  then  prevailed,  im- 
posing exactions  upon  none,  and  withholding  rights 
from  none.  The  enterprise  met  with  opposition  of 
such  force  and  character,  that  "  the  undertakers," 
as  they  were  called,  just  before  their  first  church 
was  dedicated,  in  November,  1699,  put  forth  a  docu- 
ment styled  ''''  A  Manifesto,"  in  order,  as  they  say, 
"  to  prevent  misapprehensions  and  jealousies,  and 
to  set  forth  their  designs  and  aims,  and  the  princi- 


IO 

pies  to  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  they  meant  to 
adhere."  This  manifesto  contained  sixteen  articles. 
The  first  one  is  as  follows:  '"  We  approve  and  sub- 
scribe to  the  confession  of  faith  put  forth  by  the 
Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster."  This  dec- 
laration, of  course,  shows  that  upon  points  of  theo- 
logical doctrine  the  founders  of  this  church  did  not 
assume  to  differ  from  the  mass  of  Congregational 
churches  of  that  time.  The  points  upon  which 
they  differed,  and  thereby  gave  offence,  related  to 
custom  and  usage  in  the  administration  of  religion. 
They  were  four  in  number.  The  first,  according 
to  the  published  manifesto,  was,  "  Reading  of  the 
Scriptures  in  public  worship,"  —  a  custom  largely 
neglected  then  among  the  Puritan  Congregationalists 
in  England,  and,  I  believe,  absolutely  abandoned  in 
this  country.  ;r  We  design  only  the  true  and  pure 
worship  of  God,  according  as  it  appears  to  us  from 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  Therefore,  we  deem  it  meet, 
suitable,  and  convenient  that  a  portion  of  the  Bible 
be  read  always  in  public  worship,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  minister."  Here  was  something  that  savored 
of  a  return  to  prelatic  usage;  and  as  it  was  under- 
stood (though  not  stated  in  the  manifesto)  that  in 
the  new  church  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  to  be  re- 
peated once  by  the  minister  in  the  public  service 
every  Sunday  (a  custom  which  traditionary  usage 
has  handed  down  to  the  present  time),  this  innova- 


1 1 

tion  of  reading  the  Scriptures  at  public  worship  was 
especially  offensive  to  the  conservative  Puritanism 
of  that  day. 

The  second  point  related  to  the  proper  subjects 
of  baptism,  —  who  were  entitled  to  have  it  admin- 
istered to  their  children?  The  Independent  Con- 
gregational churches  of  England  administered 
baptism  only  to  infants  whose  parents  were  church 
members;  but  the  free  air  of  the  wilderness  very 
soon  had  its  effect  upon  the  New-England  churches, 
leading  them  to  abandon  many  of  the  customs  and 
usages  which  they  had  brought  from  the  Father- 
land; and,  as  early  as  1637,  letters  of  inquiry, 
remonstrance,  and  entreaty  were  received  from 
England,  cautioning  the  brethren,  and  urging  adher- 
ence to  the  old  paths.  For  more  than  half  a  century 
after  the  settlement  of  New  England,  the  question 
whether  the  children  of  non-church  members 
should  be  baptized  was  a  subject  of  controversy, 
waxing  and  waning,  reviving  and  subsiding.  Some 
churches  satisfied  themselves  with  a  half-way  cove- 
nant, as  it  was  called,  by  acknowledging  which 
parents  could  have  their  children  baptized  without 
being  or  becoming  church  members  themselves. 
But  though  this  was  approved  by  the  synod  of 
1662,  the  popular  side  was  the  old  rule;  the  major- 
ity stood  by  that.  But  the  course  taken  by  the 
undertakers  of  the   new  church,  in   Brattle   Square. 


12 

was  especially  offensive.  They  did  not  even  estab- 
lish a  "  half-way  covenant,"  but  threw  the  whole 
responsibility  upon  the  parents  presenting  a  child, 
and  upon  the  minister,  who  was  left  to  receive  such 
acknowledgments  as  were  satisfactory  to  himself. 
"This  being  a  ministerial  office,  we  believe  it  to  be 
sufficient  that  the  pastor  should  be  satisfied;  we 
leave  it  to  his  wisdom  and  prudence." 

So  in  regard  to  the  third  point,  —  admission  to 
the  church.  Here,  they  threw  the  responsibility 
entirely  upon  the  candidate  seeking  admission, 
and  the  pastor  of  the  church.  "  All  persons," 
says  the  manifesto,  "  seeking  admission  should  be 
persons  of  visible  sanctity."  "  Whoever  would 
be  received  should  be  accountable  to  the  pastor, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 
their  knowledge  and  spiritual  state.  Therefore, 
we  cannot  enjoin,  we  dare  not  enjoin  upon  any 
a  public  relation  of  experience.  If  any  person 
think  himself  bound  in  conscience  to  make  such 
relation,  let  him  do  it;  but  we  deem  it  sufficient 
if  the  pastor,  by  a  seasonable  announcement  of 
the  name  of  the  candidate,  indicates  that  he  is 
satisfied."  Here  was  a  very  important  step.  This 
public  relation  of  experience,  before  one  could  be 
received  into  the  church,  was  a  grievous  wrong  and 
oppression,  full  of  evil,  and  in  every  way  one  would 
think   injurious   in  its   influence.      It  could  not  but 


13 

encourage,  in  some,  vanity  and  self-conceit;  it 
could  not  but  lead  others  unconsciously  into  hypo- 
critical, false,  or  exaggerated  statements  as  to  their 
religious  experience;  and  it  necessarily  deterred 
many  timid  persons  from  the  observance  of  an 
ordinance  from  which  they  might  have  derived 
great  comfort  and  strength,  and  which  should  have 
no  barriers  thrown  around  it,  except  what  the  Mas- 
ter reared  when  he  said,  "  Do  this,  in  remembrance 
of  me."  Our  Fathers  did  good  service,  noble  ser- 
vice to  the  cause  of  religious  liberty  and  sincerity, 
by  discountenancing,  as  they  did,  the  public  rela- 
tion of  experience.  They  did  not  feel  themselves 
at  liberty  to  go  further.  Having  no  right  to  enjoin, 
so  they  had  no  right  to  forbid.  ff  If  any  person 
think  himself  bound,  in  conscience,  to  make  such 
relation,  let  him  do  it."  Thus  putting  it  upon  the 
glorious  platform  of  personal,  religious  liberty. 

The  fourth  and  last  point  announced  in  the  mani- 
festo, as  a  principle  to  which  the  undertakers  of  this 
church  designed  to  adhere,  was  perhaps  the  most 
important  in  its  practical  working,  and  gave  most 
offence  to  the  churches,  technically  so  called;  be- 
cause it  took  away  the  prestige  that  surrounded 
them,  and  the  authority  which  they  had  claimed, 
exercised,  and  were  still  struggling  to  keep  in  their 
own  hands.  The  manifesto  says  that  "  persons  of 
the   greatest  piety,  and  gravity,  and   wisdom,  and 


H 

authority,  and  other  accomplishments  should,  of 
course,  have  leading  influence  and  control  in  the 
management  of  our  parish  affairs;  but  we  cannot 
confine  the  right  of  voting  to  the  church  members 
alone.  We  hold  and  maintain  that  all  who  contrib- 
ute to  its  maintenance  should  have  a  vote  and  voice 
in  election."  This,  I  believe  (and  I  think  I  have 
the  reliable  authority  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Lamson 
of  Dedham,  for  the  statement),  was  the  first  instance 
among  the  Puritan  Congregational  churches  of 
New  England,  in  which  it  was  distinctly  announced 
and  avowed  as  a  principle  to  be  adhered  to  and 
acted  upon,  that  the  church  —  technically  speaking 
—  the  body  of  communicants  had  no  rights  or  powers 
above  those  of  the  congregation.  Previously  in 
three  instances,  one  in  Salem,  one  in  Dedham,  and 
one  in  Charlestown  —  the  first  in  1672,  the  second 
in  1685,  and  the  third  in  1697  —  by  a  mutual  agree- 
ment and  provision  beforehand,  the  church  and 
congregation  had  met  together  in  one  body,  and 
without  a  separate  or  distinct  vote  elected  their 
pastor.  But  this  was  not  the  common  usage,  nor 
was  it  the  principle  avowed  and  contended  for. 
According  to  that  principle  the  church  had  the 
exclusive  right  to  elect  the  pastor  by  a  separate  and 
distinct  vote,  and  the  right  and  duty  of  the  congre- 
gation was  to  confirm  that  vote.  They  had  no 
power  to    make   a  new  choice    by  a  separate  and 


is 

independent  vote.  This  last  article  in  the  mani- 
festo sweeping  away,  as  it  did,  what  was  regarded 
as  the  special  right  and  prerogative  of  the  church, 
or  the  bod}'  of  communicants,  was  particularly 
offensive.  The  Salem  ministers,  Higginson  and 
Noyes,  who  replied  to  the  manifesto,  condemn  it 
"  as  having  a  direct  tendency  to  subvert  the  minis- 
try and  grace  and  order  and  liberty  of  all  the 
churches  in  the  land,"  and  think  it  "  ma)'  make 
worse  work  than  they  care  to  say."  Fortunately 
their  fears  were  not  realized. 

These  four  points,  —  i .  Reading  of  the  Scriptures 
in  public  worship;  2.  Baptism  at  the  liberty  of  the 
pastor  ;  3.  Admission  to  the  church  without  the 
public  relation  of  experience  ;  4.  The  extinction 
of  all  special  right  on  the  part  of  the  church,  and 
the  recognition  of  the  right  of  every  individual 
member  of  the  cono-re^ation  who  contributed  to  its 
support  to  vote  in  its  affairs,  —  these  constitute  the 
most  essential  and  important  principles  which  our 
Fathers  put  forth  and  established  in  the  erection  of 
this  church.  I  have  dwelt  upon  them  at  this  length 
because  I  felt  that,  to  those  of  us  who  knew,  it  would 
be  a  pleasure  to  recall  them;  and  I  wished  that  all 
who  did  not  know  should  be  made  acquainted  with 
the  noble  origin  and  honorable  early  history  of  this 
church,  —  the  truly  Christian  spirit,  and  principle, 
and  purpose  of  our  Fathers  who  instituted  it.    They 


i6 


were  not  reckless  and  conceited  disorganizers; 
they  were  not  come-outers  and  radicals,  according 
to  the  modern  use  of  these  terms.  They  were  men 
of  solid  and  substantial  Christian  faith.  They  be- 
lieved in  the  Bible,  and  they  determined  that  in  the 
church  which  they  erected  and  sustained  the  Bible 
should  be  read  publicly  from  the  pulpit,  as  the 
source  and  the  authority  of  the  truths  and  instruc- 
tions which  the  pulpit  uttered.  They  believed  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  anointed 
of  the  Father  to  be  the  teacher  and  Saviour  of  the 
world;  and  they  determined  that  in  their  church, 
instituted  in  his  name,  his  Gospel  should  be  so  ad- 
ministered that  He  and  not  the  church  should  be 
the  sole  Master  and  Lord  of  conscience.  They 
were  men  of  faith,  holiness,  and  prayer,  who  saw 
that  a  new  church  was  needed  in  the  growing 
town,  and  determined  to  establish  one  that  should 
be  liberal  yet  conservative,  uniting  freedom  and 
order,  the  liberty  of  the  individual  with  the  rights 
and  progress  of  the  whole  body.  The  points  in 
which  they  departed  from  the  usages  of  the  Con- 
gregational churches  of  their  day  were  in  one 
aspect  mere  matters  of  form  and  administration, 
but  they  involved  questions  of  individual  right  and 
privilege.  And  we  have  reason  to  hold  our  found- 
ers and  Fathers  in  grateful  honor  and  reverence, 
that  they  stood  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 


i7 

has  made  us  free;  and  we  are  not  to  be  surprised, 
we  cannot  be  surprised,  that  a  church  originating 
in  this  spirit,  founded  upon  and  adhering  to  these 
principles  should  soon  have  become  large  and  flour- 
ishing; or  that  continuing  faithful  to  them  it  has 
been  throughout  its  history  a  prosperous  and  peace- 
ful church. 

Brethren,  I  do  not  propose  to  dwell  thus  minutely 
upon  any  further  details;  nor  is  it  necessary,  for 
the  later  history  of  this  church,  and  the  ministries 
of  Thacher,  Buckminster,  Everett,  and  Palfrey  are 
well  known  and  familiar  to  many  who  hear  me. 
But  I  must  refer  to  some  of  the  particulars  con- 
nected with  the  first  two  pastors.  The  first  move- 
ment in  relation  to  this  religious  society  was  made 
in  1697.  In  January,  1698,  the  undertakers  became 
possessed  of  a  lot  of  land  in  Brattle  Close,  but  for 
some  reason  which  cannot  be  ascertained  they  took 
no  steps  toward  erecting  a  house  of  worship  until 
the  spring  of  1699.  In  a  letter  dated  the  10th  of 
May  of  that  year,  addressed  to  Mr.  Coleman,  in 
England,  inviting  him  to  become  their  pastor,  they 
say:  "The  timber  for  our  church  has  already  been 
brought  to  town;  the  frame  will  be  raised  the  first 
of  August,  and  the  house  completed  in  October." 
A  simple  wooden  structure,  that  was  thus  to  be 
built  in  the  course  of  three  or  four  months,  could 
not,  manifestly,  have  been  a  very  elaborate  structure. 


i8 

But  in  that  humble  temple,  Dr.  Coleman,  for  nearly 
forty-eight  years,  preached  and  labored  with  a 
wisdom,  a  fidelity,  and  success  that  have  seldom 
been  surpassed.  He  was  a  native  of  this  town, 
and  his  brother  was  one  of  the  "  undertakers  "  of 
this  church.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1692;  and,  after  delivering  the  master's  oration, 
travelled,  studied  and  preached  in  England  about 
four  years ;  and  at  the  moment  this  invitation 
from  Boston  reached  him  he  was  preaching  to  a 
distinguished  dissenting  congregation  in  Bath. 
Having  determined  to  accept  it,  and  anticipating 
from  the  state  of  things  here  that  there  might  be 
difficulty  in  obtaining  ordination  in  Boston,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  London,  and  there  on  the  4th  of  August, 
1699,  he  was  ordained  as  the  pastor  of  this  church 
by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  dissenting  clergy- 
men of  that  city.  He  arrived  here  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1699,  and  in  a  very  few  weeks  he  and 
the  people  of  his  church  were  quietly  worshipping 
God  according  to  their  consciences  in  their  new 
and  simple  church.  In  a  very  few  years  the  rela- 
tions of  Dr.  Coleman  and  his  society  with  the 
other  ministers  and  churches  in  the  town  became 
pleasant  and  harmonious,  and  the  distinctions  and 
the  title,  "  manifesto,"  which  first  marked  and  sepa- 
rated the  church  in  Brattle  Square,  were  obliterated 
by   the  adoption    by    most  of   the  Congregational 


19 

churches  of  New  England  of  the  principles,  cus- 
toms, and  usages  which  that  church  had  introduced. 
It  was  a  blessed  providence  that  led  to  the  choice 
of  Dr.  Coleman  to  be  the  first  minister  of  this 
church.  Among  the  men  of  his  day  there  was  no 
one  who  had  so  large  a  measure  of  the  requisite 
combination  of  qualities  for  the  difficult  post.  Had 
he  and  his  people  resembled  many  pastors  and 
societies  of  the  present  day,  —  who  seem  to  be  zeal- 
ous for  all  manner  of  useless  and  unnecessary 
innovations,  and  anxious  to  hold  out  the  idea  that 
there  is  something  very  peculiar  in  their  society, 
their  modes  and  methods  of  administering  the  Gos- 
pel, —  they  might  have  made  at  that  early  day  a  fatal 
schism  in  the  Cono-re^ational  churches  of  the  col- 
ony.  But  he  was  for  peace  and  conciliation.  He 
was  anxious,  so  far  as  it  could  be  done  without  a 
compromise  of  dignity  and  principle,  to  keep  his 
church  in  union  and  harmony,  not  in  contrast  and 
conflict,  with  the  other  churches  in  town.  By  wis- 
dom, firmness,  and  gentleness  he  succeeded  to  the 
content  of  his  heart;  and  in  1747,  when  he  died, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  name  one  who,  as  an  ac- 
complished scholar,  a  courteous  Christian  gentle- 
man, a  wise,  faithful,  earnest,  eloquent  preacher, 
a  devoted  and  attentive  pastor,  an  honest,  patriotic, 
public-spirited  citizen,  had  rendered  more  impor- 
tant service  to  the  community,  or  was  held  in  higher 


20 

regard  by  all  the  churches  in  Massachusetts,  than 
Benjamin  Coleman,  the  first  pastor  of  Brattle- 
Square  Church. 

He  had  two  colleagues,  —  the  Rev.  William 
Cooper,  who  was  ordained  on  the  23d  of  May,  17 16, 
and,  after  twenty-seven  years  of  associated  labor, 
died  on  the  14th  of  December,  1743,  leaving  Dr. 
Coleman,  in  his  advanced  age,  the  sole  pastor  of 
the  church, —  a  charge  from  which  he  was  presently 
relieved  by  the  choice  of  a  son  of  William  Cooper, 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Cooper,  to  be  associate  pastor.  He 
was  ordained  on  the  22d  of  May,  1746,  just  sixteen 
months  before  the  death  of  Dr.  Coleman,  after 
which,  for  thirty-seven  }7ears,  till  his  own  death,  in 
December,  1783,  he  was  the  sole  pastor  of  the 
church.  These  two  pastorates  of  Coleman  and 
Cooper  cover  nearly  one-half  the  period  that  has 
elapsed  since  the  organization  of  the  church.  Dr. 
Cooper  is  better  known  to  us  by  tradition  than  Dr. 
Coleman.  He  was  an  accomplished  gentleman  and 
scholar,  dignified  and  imposing  in  personal  presence, 
an  eloquent  preacher,  and  faithful  pastor,  and  also  a 
man  of  affairs,  —  taking  a  deep  interest  in,  and  in 
various  ways  exercising  a  large  influence  upon  all 
the  public  questions  and  events  of  that  stormy 
period  between  1750  and  1783,  when  he  died. 

From    his   pastorate   Brattle-Square   Church   be- 
comes a  distinct  and  tangible  reality  to  us  of  this 


21 

generation;  for  then  was  erected  this  splendid 
temple  of  worship,  which,  in  its  substantial  struct- 
ure, in  the  grand  and  imposing  solemnity  of  its 
interior,  has  not  been  equalled,  certainly  not  sur- 
passed, by  any  church  that  the  Protestant  faith  has 
since  erected  in  the  city  of  the  Pilgrims.  It  was 
formerly  thought,  and  has  been  sometimes  pretty 
strongly  asserted,  that,  after  the  great  awakening  of 
1740,  a  period  of  coldness  and  deadness  came  upon 
the  New-England  churches,  which  was  increased 
and  prolonged,  made  deeper  and  darker  through  the 
political  troubles  of  the  times,  —  the  French  war 
and  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  —  and  that  during 
the  last  half  of  the  last  century  there  was  very  little 
manifestation  of  a  living,  vigorous  religious  faith  in 
these  churches.  We  are  beginning  to  correct  this 
idea,  and  do  a  little  more  justice  to  that  period. 
We  ought  to  correct  our  estimate;  for  surely  the 
people  who  resisted  the  Stamp  Act  and  the  Boston 
Port  bill,  and  held  the  principles  that  inaugurated 
the  revolution  of  1776,  and  who  carried  their  coun- 
try triumphantly  through  that  great  struggle,  could 
not  have  been  an  irreligious  people,  nor  largely 
wanting  in  that  religious  faith  which  is  truly  the 
inspiration  of  the  noblest  and  most  honorable  action 
in  all  our  political  and  public  affairs. 

But,  whatever  max-  have  been  the  general  spir- 
itual state,  we  may  rightfully  claim  that  this  church 


22 

of  our  Fathers,  in  1770,  was  in  good  condition 
spiritually  and  materially.  They  must  have  been 
and  felt  themselves  strong  materially;  for,  when 
they  were  about  to  build  this  church,  they  refused 
the  offered  gift  of  a  most  eligible  lot  of  land  of  far 
greater  value  than  this  which  they  held,  —  a  lot 
worth  thousands  then,  worth  hundreds  on  hundreds 
of  thousands  to-day,  —  and  refused  partly  because 
they  did  not  want  to  leave  the  old  spot,  and  partly 
because  the  majority  of  the  parish  lived  immediate- 
ly north  of  the  church,  and  Brattle  Close  was  very 
accessible  to  them.  They  purchased  more  land 
here,  and  then  raised,  by  voluntary  subscription 
among  themselves,  twenty  thousand  pounds  lawful 
money,  —  equivalent,  I  suppose,  to  more  than 
$150,000  at  the  present  day,  —  and  erected  this 
grand  and  substantial  church,  which,  untouched  by 
hand  of  man,  would  defy  for  centuries  the  inroads 
of  time.  We  need  no  better  evidence,  brethren, 
of  the  faith  of  our  Fathers;  that  a  good  spirit  was 
in  them,  and  an  efficient  ministry  at  work  among 
them.  This  church  could  not  have  been  built 
without  faith,  or  without  that  generous  devotion  to 
the  honor  of  God  and  the  good  of  man  which  faith 
inspires.  And  in  comparison  with  similar  work  in 
our  times,  it  was  very  speedily  built.  The  society 
worshipped  for  the  last  time  in  the  old  wooden 
church  on  this  spot,  the    10th  of  May,  1772.     The 


23 

corner-stone  of  this  church  was  laid  on  the  23d 
June,  1772.  The  church  itself  was  finished,  dedi- 
cated and  worshipped  in  by  our  Fathers  on  the 
25th  of  July,  1773,  —  ninety-eight  years  ago  last 
Wednesday,  and  about  thirteen  months  from  the 
time  its  corner-stone  was  laid.  Is  there  a  con- 
tractor or  master  mechanic  among  us  to-day  who 
would  undertake  to  build  this  church,  with  its  thick 
massive  walls  and  all  the  noble  carved  work  of  its 
interior,  in  the  time  in  which  the  mechanics  and 
workmen  of  Boston  erected  it  nearly  one  hundred 
years  ago? 

But  the  society  was  not  permitted  long  to  enjoy 
it  unmolested.  As  we  know,  the  troubles  of  the 
Revolution  came  on;  and  Dr.  Cooper,  whose  patri- 
otic sermons,  services,  and  character  made  him 
obnoxious  to  the  royal  authorities,  left  the  town  in 
April,  1775,  and  did  not  return  until  after  the  siege. 
The  services  were  suspended  when  the  siege  com- 
menced ;  the  military  commandant  wanted  the 
church  for  military  purposes,  and  made  it  a  bar- 
rack. The  patriot  enemy  fired  upon  it  from  without, 
and  struck  it;  the  British  soldiers  within  marred 
and  defaced  it  with  their  bayonets,  and  left  it  in 
such  a  condition  that  several  weeks  elapsed  after 
the  evacuation  by  the  British  forces  before  it  could 
be  used  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  erected, 
—  the  public  worship  of  God.     But  these  circum- 


24 

stances  caused  it,  before  it  was  a  decade  old,  to 
become  an  historic  church,  around  which  patriotic 
memories  and  associations  soon  gathered,  and  have 
since  been  increasing,  strengthening,  and  over- 
flowing with  every  generation;  so  that  now  it  is 
a  matter  of  regret,  not  simply  to  the  worshippers 
in  this  church,  but  to  the  great  body  of  our  citizens 
generally,  that  this  noble  and  glorious  old  edifice, 
this  splendid  landmark  of  the  past,  should  pass 
away. 

That  regret  is  natural  and  right.  1  should  feel 
little  respect  for  any  man  who  did  not  share  in 
it.  No  one  can  feel  it  more  sadly  or  deeply  than 
myself.  My  ministry  covers  more  than  one-third 
of  the  time  since  this  church  was  erected.  I  have 
preached  from  this  pulpit  nearly  twenty  years 
longer  than  any  of  my  predecessors;  and,  however 
little  it  may  be,  nearly  all  that  there  is  of  honor  or 
usefulness  in  my  professional  life  is  associated  with 
this  spot.  If  ever  I  have  felt  an  hour  of  triumphant 
satisfaction,  —  perhaps  it  was  a  weakness  to  indulge 
in  it,  —  at  the  thought  of  work  well  clone,  duty  faith- 
fully discharged,  it  has  been  when,  standing  here, 
looking  into  the  faces  of  parishioners  and  friends, 
I  have  led  their  devotions,  set  forth  the  teachings, 
hopes,  promises  of  the  Gospel,  and  uttered,  as  best 
I  could,  the  truths  that  pertain  to  their  own  welfare 
and    to    the    highest   interests   of   humanity.       For 


*5 

more  than  thirty  years  these  majestic  columns  have 
flanked  me  on  either  side,  like  grand  and  solemn 
sentinels,  keeping  silent  watch  and  ward  over  this 
pulpit  which,  with  its  sacred  memories,  traditions, 
and  associations,  has  been  my  inspiration  and  my 
throne.  The  thought  of  leaving  all  this  glory,  of 
departing  from  it  and  seeing  it  depart,  makes  my 
heart  throb;  nay,  makes  every  fibre  of  my  frame 
quiver  with  deep  and  sad  emotions. 

So  is  it  with  you,  brethren,  members  of  this 
society,  worshippers  in  Brattle-Square  Church.  I 
can  understand  and  sympathize  with  all  the  feelings 
that  arise  in  your  hearts  this  da}'  at  the  thought  of 
leaving  this  home  of  your  religious  affections,  this 
scene,  perhaps,  of  your  deepest  religious  experience, 
connected  so  intimately  with  all  the  joy  and  all  the 
sorrow  of  your  lives.  Sad  and  sacred,  holy  and 
hallowed  memories  gather  around  it  in  your  minds; 
nay,  with  some  of  you,  who  are  even  now  near  the 
close  of  life,  the  recollections  of  early  childhood 
cluster  thick  and  fast  about  it  this  morning-.  In 
unconscious  infancy  you  were  baptized  at  this 
altar.  Hither  the  hand  of  parental  affection  early 
led  your  childhood's  steps  to  the  worship  of  God; 
and  through  all  the  years  of  life  the  path  has 
been  familiar  to  your  feet,  and  even  now  is  sweet 
and  pleasant  through  the  memory  of  the  parents, 
brothers,  sisters,  who   once   trod   it  with   you,  but 

4 


26 


long  since,  it  may  be,  have  passed  from  your  sight, 
and  left  you  to  tread  it  alone. 

But  where  recollection  goes  not  back  to  early 
childhood,  it  goes  back,  with  many  of  you,  to  the 
dawn  of  early  manhood,  when  stepping  upon  the 
stage  of  life  you  rested  here  the  ark  of  your  faith, 
made  this  the  tabernacle  of  3-our  worship,  sought 
here  the  truths  that  were  to  guide  and  the  influ- 
ences that  were  to  protect  you  amid  all  the  duty 
and  peril  of  life.  And  through  all  that  duty  and 
peril,  through  prosperous  and  adverse  fortunes, 
your  hearts  weary  with  the  heavy  burden  of  sor- 
row, or  glad  with  gratitude  and  praise,  hither  you 
have  come,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  year  after  37ear, 
and  found  strength  and  comfort,  the  Master's  peace 
and  a  spiritual  benediction  on  your  soul.  And 
now,  to-day,  to  you  who  are  here  present,  as  to 
many  who  are  not  present,  to  many  scattered  all 
over  the  land,  ay,  and  in  foreign  lands,  the  thought 
of  this  church  comes  up  to  the  memory  like  a  golden 
thread  of  light  and  love  and  comfort,  of  hope  and 
strength,  woven  into  the  very  texture  of  your  hearts, 
an  inseparable  portion  of  the  warp  and  woof  of 
your  being;  and  to  cut  that  thread,  to  drift  away 
from  this  spot,  so  familiar,  sacred,  dear  to  all  that 
is  noblest  and  best  in  your  souls,  and  see  all  this 
material  glory  and  beauty  depart,  —  this  begets  in 
your  hearts  a  sadness  that  may  be  almost  called 
a  bitterness  of  spirit. 


27 

Yes,  friends,  it  is  natural,  it  is  right,  that  we 
should  feel  deep  sorrow  and  regret  at  leaving  this 
noble  old  church;  but  we  should  not  indulge  this 
feelino-  until  it  becomes  morbid  and  deaf  to  all  the 
suggestions  of  wisdom  and  sound  judgment.  We 
should  not  indulge  it  until  it  paralyze  effort  and 
make  us  forget  what  we  owe  to  the  future  in 
return  for  what  we  have  received  from  the  past. 
Change  is  the  order  of  Divine  Providence;  nothing 
is  permanent  or  enduring  upon  earth  but  truth  and 
duty,  and  these  vary  in  the  efforts  and  sacrifices 
they  demand  of  us,  with  the  varying  circumstances 
in  which  we  are  placed.  Reduced  to  the  last 
analysis,  the  question  which  has  been  for  some 
years  before  us  was  simply  a  question  of  conscience 
and  of  duty  rather  than  of  feeling.  ft  Shall  this  old 
church  and  society  in  Brattle  Square  remain  on  the 
spot  where  it  was  born,  and  die  there;  or  shall  it 
remove  to  another  site,  and,  carrying  with  it  its  tra- 
ditions and  its  history,  seek  to  perpetuate  itself  as 
a  religious  organization,  and  go  down  into  the 
coming  generations  a  living  power  and  not  a  lifeless 
memory  that  must  soon  become  utterly  and  for  ever 
extinct?"  That  this  was  the  question,  the  simple 
alternative,  can,  I  think,  neither  be  doubted  nor 
denied.  You  have  felt  it,  and  I  have  felt  it.  The 
history  and  experience  of  similar  institutions  in  all 
large   and   growing   cities    in    this    country   and    in 


28 

Europe     confirm     it    by     unequivocal     testimony. 
There  are  grand  traditions  and  histories  connected 
with  this  church,  and  it  is  an  imposing,  impressive 
old  building;  but  it  is  so  unpleasantly  situated,  the 
access  to  it  from  every  direction  has  for    the    last 
twenty  years  been  so  disagreeable,  and  will  so  un- 
questionably become   more    and    more   unpleasant, 
that    the    mightiest  voice    that    ever    uttered    itself 
in     a    Christian    pulpit,  —  and    such   voice    is    not 
easily    obtained,  nor  does   it    live   for    ever   if  ob- 
tained,—  could  not,  I  apprehend,  keep  this  church 
alive  on  this  spot  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  lon- 
ger.    It  was  not  meet  that  we  should   abide  here 
for   the    gratification    of    our    personal    feelings    of 
attachment   and   reverence    for   this    spot  and    this 
house,  and   leave  the   religious  organization   trans- 
mitted to  us  from  the  Fathers,  the  living  church  of 
living  and   immortal   souls,  to  perish  and   die  out. 
To  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  religious  organiza- 
tion, and  send  it  down  into  the  community  and  the 
generations  to  come  after  us, — this  was  the  more 
sacred,   imperative   and   Christian  duty,  to   be  dis- 
charged at  whatever  sacrifice  of  our  personal  feel- 
ings and  affections,  at  whatever  cost  to  our  personal 
comfort. 

And  we  have  not  been  hasty  in  this  matter,  my 
friends.  Some  may  think  that  we  have  delayed  too 
long,  but  assuredly  we  have  not  been  hasty.     It  is 


29 

now  full  twenty-five  years  since  the  first  distinct 
proposition  for  a  change  of  location  was  made  to 
the  society  by  several  gentlemen,  all  but  one  of 
whom  have  since  died.  Those  gentlemen  held  at 
that  time  the  refusal  of  the  estate  where  the  Music 
Hall  now  stands,  and  the  question  of  removal,  with 
that  estate  in  prospect,  was  brought  to  a  distinct 
vote  in  the  society,  and  decided  in  the  negative  by 
a  very  large  majority.  In  the  providence  of  God 
the  time  had  not  come.  But  during  the  twenty-five 
years  since  elapsed,  the  question  has  been  a  constant 
subject  of  thought  and  discussion  in  the  parish,  and, 
once  or  twice,  of  some  pretty  direct  practical  efforts 
on  the  part  of  the  standing  committee,  and  four  or 
five  years  have  passed  since  the  measures  that  are 
now  issuing  in  our  removal  were  instituted.  They 
have  been  pressed  gently  and  gradually  on  the 
parish.  We  have  not  been  hasty;  we  have  moved 
slowly,  because  we  wished  that  every  thing  should 
be  done,  as  every  thing  in  the  past  history  of  the 
church  has  been  done,  in  peace  and  harmony,  in  as 
near  an  approach  to  unanimity  as  possible.  Time 
has  been  allowed  for  a  full  interchange  of  opinions, 
for  wisdom  and  judgment  to  temper  the  natural  im- 
pulses of  feeling,  of  affection,  and  attachment;  until 
now  I  believe  there  is  all  but  a  universal  concur- 
rence among  the  worshippers  in  this  church  and 
among  our  citizens    generally,  who   feel    that   the}' 


3° 

have,  as  it  were,  some  right  of  property  in  this  old 
landmark  of  the  past,  —  there  is  everywhere  an 
almost  universal  concurrence  in  the  proposition 
that  Brattle-Square  Church  and  Society  must  re- 
move, if  they  would  live. 

The  hard  necessity  of  the  first  part  of  this  alter- 
native is  forced  upon  us  in  the  providence  of  God 
by  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  city.  The 
fulfilment  of  the  last  part  of  it — perpetuating  our 
life  —  depends,  under  the  providence  of  God,  upon 
ourselves.  That  is  a  question  to  be  determined 
by  the  fidelity  of  our  own  hearts  to  duty  and  prin- 
ciple. The  necessity  of  removal  being  admitted, 
the  removal  itself  determined  upon,  just  in  propor- 
tion to  the  measure  of  our  attachment  to  this  spot 
and  to  this  church,  with  all  its  history  and  tradi- 
tions, should  be  the  energy  of  our  efforts  to  transfer 
it,  with  this  history  and  these  traditions,  —  the  real 
church,  the  living  spiritual  church,  —  to  the  new 
spot,  and  there  build  it  up.  And  why  should  we 
not  do  this?  Are  our  religious  feelings  and  asso- 
ciations so  much  more  local  and  confined  than  those 
of  every  other  part  of  our  nature,  that  we  cannot 
meet  the  changes  that  require  us  to  transfer  them 
to  new  scenes?  Is  our  worship  such  a  formal  affair, 
so  dependent  upon  the  influence  of  outward  and 
accustomed  surroundings,  that  we  cannot  compre- 
hend and  feel,  act  upon  and  obey,  that  grand   dec- 


3i 

laration  of  the  Master,  "  Thou  shalt  worship  the 
Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  for  the  Father  seeketh 
such  to  worship  him"?  No,  brethren:  that  spiritual 
worship  of  the  heart  we  can  carry  everywhere; 
and  it  is  in  our  power,  by  forbearance,  by  tender- 
ness, by  an  earnest,  concurrent  zeal,  to  carry  out 
—  nay,  we  shall  carry  out  to  a  glorious  and  noble 
conclusion  —  the  goodlv  enterprise  upon  which  we 
have  now  entered.  We  shall  "  enlarge  the  place 
of  our  tent;"  we  "shall  stretch  forth  the  curtains 
of  our  new  habitation,  and  great  will  be  the  peace 
of  our  children." 

Every  thing  is  favorable  for  us  if  our  own  hearts 
are  full  of  courage  and  hope,  of  forbearance  and 
laith.  Through  the  kindness  of  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  honored  churches  in  this  city,  in  offering 
for  our  use  their  chapel  in  Freeman  Place,  Beacon 
Street,  comfortable  provisions  have  been  made  for 
our  worship  until  our  new  church  shall  be  ready  for 
our  reception.  Let  us  gratefully  go  there,  and  cleave 
together  and  cling  together  in  work  and  love.  I  pre- 
sume not  to  dictate;  I  interfere  not  with  the  liberty 
which  any  family  or  individual  ma}'  choose  to  exer- 
cise upon  this  subject:  no  one  will  accuse  me  of 
any  professional  arrogance  of  that  sort;  but  in  the 
name  of  the  blessed  Master,  whose  truth  we  have 
sought  together  to  uphold  here;  in  the  name  of 
those  great  and    precious    interests  which   for  more 


32 

than  thirty  years  I  have  stood  here  to  defend  and 
advance  as  best  I  could;  by  all  the  blessed  memo- 
ries and  associations  of  the  past,  —  I  do  entreat  you, 
even  those  who  have  least  favored  the  enterprise 
now  begun,  and  say  to  you,  let  us  cleave  together 
and  cling  together  and  work  together  with  loving 
hearts,  with  living  faith,  with  earnest  efforts;  and 
then  those  efforts  shall  be  crowned  with  success, 
and  the  glory  of  the  latter  house  shall  exceed  the 
former,  and  the  blessing  of  God  will  rest  upon  us 
and  upon  our  children  even  as  it  did  upon  our 
Fathers. 

Nothing  remains  for  us  now,  brethren,  but  to  take 
leave  of  this  dear,  blessed,  familiar  spot.  Farewell, 
then,  for  ever,  thou  grand,  glorious,  blessed  old 
church!  An  earnest  faith  and  a  devout  piety  laid 
thy  foundations,  reared  thy  walls,  planted  thy 
columns,  adorned  thy  pulpit,  and  made  thee  a  grave 
and  goodly  house  of  worship.  Earnest,  learned, 
faithful  and  eloquent  men,  preachers  and  pastors, 
have  stood  in  thy  pulpit,  and  made  thy  walls  re- 
sound with  utterances  of  sacred  and  divine  truth, 
with  appeals  to  the  heart  and  the  conscience  that 
could  not  be  resisted.  Successive  generations  of 
wise,  good,  devout,  patriotic,  Christian  men  and 
women  of  high  or  low,  humble  or  exalted  station, 
have  filled  thy  pews  and  drunk  from  thy  fountain  of 
living  waters  the  influences  that  have  been  the  com- 


fort  and  joy  of  their  hearts,  that  have  made  them 
useful  and  happy  upon  earth  and  meet  for  heaven. 
Through  all  thy  worshippers,  in  successive  genera- 
tions, thou  hast  connected  thyself  directly  with 
much  that  is  patriotic,  useful,  noble,  honorable  and 
of  good  report  in  this  community.  But  thy  mission 
is  done,  thy  work  is  accomplished,  thy  office  ful- 
filled. The  mandate  to  depart  is  issued,  and  we 
leave  thee  now  for  ever.  But  we  will  not  forget 
thee.  Thine  image,  holy  and  beautiful,  of  mingled 
grandeur,  grace,  and  dignity,  shall  abide  for  ever  in 
our  hearts,  a  blessed  memory,  a  quickening  inspi- 
ration. Often  we  will  recall  thee;  and  when  our 
hearts  have  ceased  to  beat  upon  earth,  and  no  one 
of  the  living  generations  can  say,  "  I  remember 
thee,"  even  then  thy  fame  shall  survive:  and  in  the 
great  communion  of  the  saints,  multitudes  worship- 
ping in  temples  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens,  shall  there  look  back,  and  remember  thee 
with  gratitude  and  reverence,  as  the  spot  where 
their  hearts  were  born  to  Christ,  and  their  souls 
made  meet  for  glory  and  honor  and  immortality. 
Farewell  for  ever,  noble,  glorious,  blessed  old 
church  in  Brattle  Square! 


APPENDIX. 


'"T^HE  removal  of  an  old  historic  landmark,  like 
Brattle-Square  Church,  was  an  event  of  too  much 
general  interest  and  importance  for  the  public  press  of 
the  citv  to  permit  it  to  pass  unnoticed.  The  whole  of 
the  foregoing  Sermon,  reported  with  singular  correct- 
ness, appeared  in  several  newspapers  on  the  Monday 
morning  after  its  delivery,  with  glowing  and  elaborate 
descriptions  of  the  scene  and  service  at  the  church  in 
some  of  them,  and  with  kind  and  friendly  comment  in 
all.  One  or  two  interesting  and  noteworthy  articles 
also,  on  "the  Manifesto  Church,"  and  its  contemplated 
removal,  were  published  on  the  Saturday  previous, 
July  29.  As  these  articles  are  expressions  or  indications 
of  the  public  opinion  and  feeling  of  the  time,  and  thus, 
while  interesting  to  all,  are  especially  interesting  to  the 
members  of  Brattle-Square  Society,  and  may  be  needed 
or  desired  in  some  convenient  form  for  historical  refer- 
ence, the  Standing  Committee  have  thought  it  best  to 
reprint  some  of  them  in  connection  with  the  Society's 
issue  of  the  Sermon  itself. 

The    following    is    from    the    "Daily    Advertiser"    of 
Saturday,  July  29: — 


36 

The  Church  in  Brattle  Square.  —  Appropriate  re- 
ligious services  at  the  church  in  Brattle  Square  will  mark 
to-morrow  one  more  of  the  changes  which  remove  the  memo- 
rials of  old  Boston.  Such  changes  show  us  how  different  is 
the  city  of  to-day  from  the  little  town  to  which  our  Fathers 
gave  a  reputation  honorable  the  world  over.  It  is  nearly  two 
hundred  years  since  the  first  church  was  built  on  the  spot 
which  is  now  surrendered,  after  a  loyal  struggle,  to  the  in- 
vasion of  commerce.  The  history  of  the  church  then  estab- 
lished has  been  honorable,  and  it  has  been  closely  connected 
with  the  fortunes  of  the  town  and  the  changing  phases  of  the 
religious  life  of  New  England.  We  suppose,  indeed,  that  the 
foundation  of  this  church  is,  in  our  local  history,  the  mark 
which  indicates  the  advance  in  culture  and  individual  right 
which  in  three  generations  the  children  of  New  England  had 
made  upon  their  ancestors.  At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  colony  was  no  longer  poor,  and  Boston  was  no 
longer  a  little  fishing-town  struggling  for  a  right  to  be.  The 
people  who  lived  in  it  were  no  longer  new  settlers  in  a  wilder- 
ness. They  had  had  no  home  but  New  England,  and  they  wanted 
none  better.  In  every  regard,  therefore,  their  circumstances 
differed  from  those  of  the  first  Winthrop,  the  first  Dudley,  and 
their  associates ;  and,  however  sad  the  confession  to  the  men 
who  loved  to  praise  the  olden  time,  it  was  natural  that  the 
difference  between  the  first  generation  and  the  third  should 
express  itself  in  the  forms  of  their  worship. 

Mr.  Haven  has  pointed  out  the  curious  fact  that  the  second 
generation  was  undoubtedly  of  less  culture,  literary  and  relig- 
ious, than  that  whose  place  it  took.  The  infant  college  could  not 
train  such  scholars  as  did  Emmanuel  and  Pembroke  and  the 
other  tried  colleges  of  the  old  Cambridge.  And  the  struggles 
of  a  wilderness  were  not  the  best  schools  for  such  culture. 
But,  as  prosperity  increased,  as  wealth  increased,  here  in  the 
metropolis  especially,  small  though  the  metropolis  was,  cul- 
ture asserted  its  own  again.  The  elegancies  of  life  came  in 
with  the  other  prizes  of  commerce  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
literary,  scientific,  and  religious  tastes  and  studies  of  the  genera- 


37 

tion  that  grew  up  as  the  century  came  to  an  end  were  no  longer 
those  of  an  insignificant  fishing-town. 

It  is  as  evident  that  the  closely-serried  power  of  the  early 
Puritan  church  could  not  hold  its  own  in  a  community  where 
that  church  no  longer  dreaded  the  arm  of  persecution.  Blaxton 
had  said,  as  early  as  1638,  that  he  found  the  Lord's  brethren 
masters  as  hard  as  any  lord  bishop.  It  was  not  in  the  nature 
of  New  England  to  bear  indefinitely  any  close  screws,  whether 
imposed  by  a  congregational  or  a  prelatical  star-chamber.  And 
it  was  therefore  inevitable  that  so  soon  as  the  church  of  the 
colonies  was  sure  of  freedom  from  persecution,  it  would,  as  its 
elastic  constitution  permitted  so  readily,  assert  its  freedom  from 
theological  dictation. 

Each  tendency  of  advance  —  whether  in  literary  and  theo- 
logical culture,  whether  in  freedom  of  expression,  or  whether 
in  liberty  of  thought  —  was  in  a  quiet  way  exemplified  in  the 
establishment  of  the  church  in  Brattle  .Square.  The  "Mani- 
festo Church,"  it  was  called  in  its  day,  —  being  indeed  the 
"  Protestant"  church  among  the  Puritan  congregations.  It  did 
not  separate  from  their  fellowship  ;  but  it  instituted  novelties  in 
worship  which  at  the  time  were  considered  extraordinary,  and 
which  were  sufficient  to  denote  the  real  independency  of  the 
congregation.  To  the  observer  of  to-day,  looking  back  upon 
these  changes,  they  appear  singularly  small.  That  the  Bible 
should  always  be  read  in  the  conduct  of  divine  service  was  one 
of  them.  The  true  Puritan  carried  his  dread  of  book-worship 
so  far,  that  this  was  a  novelty.  That  the  Lord's  prayer  should 
be  used  in  every  service  was  one  of  the  early  customs,  which 
became  traditional  in  this  church.  The  older  Puritans  had 
dreaded  such  an  approach  to  a  form.  Most  remarkable  of  all 
was  the  permission  given  to  each  person  who  wished  to  join  in 
the  communion  of  the  church,  to  make  to  the  pastor  his  own 
statement  of  religious  experience  in  private.  —  and  the  waiver 
of  the  old  custom  of  a  public  proclamation  of  such  experience. 
In  this  last  concession  is  to  be  found  the  recognition  and  conse- 
cration by  the  "  Manifesto  Church"  of  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment.    These  changes  in  ritual  seem  to  us  very  small.     They 


38 

indicate,  however,  the  determination  on  the  part  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  influential  of  the  laity  of  the  town  of  Boston,  as 
it  then  was,  to  keep  in  their  own  hands  the  direction  of  the 
methods  of  public  worship,  —  their  determination  to  have  it 
conducted  in  such  way  as  to  meet  best  their  own  wishes  and 
necessities,  —  and  their  refusal  to  submit  in  such  matters  to  the 
notions  of  the  coteries  of  the  clergy.  The  establishment  of  the 
"Manifesto  Church"  may  be  said  to  show  that  Boston  was  no 
longer  governed  by  a  hierarchy,  if  indeed  it  had  ever  been. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  church  founded  on  such  a  prin- 
ciple has  always  furnished  distinguished  illustrations  of  its 
value.  The  church  in  Brattle  Square  united,  through  the 
century  which  followed  its  formation,  a  large  number  of  those 
citizens  of  this  town  who  were  most  closeby  connected  with  the 
administration  of  public  affairs.  To  this  time  the  "  convention 
of  the  clergy,"  which  is  the  Massachusetts  "  convocation,"  holds 
its  annual  religious  service  in  this  church.  In  the  services  of 
the  Colmans,  of  the  Coopers,  and  of  Thacher  in  its  pulpit, 
it  maintained  the  claim  which  the  manifesto  made  for  the  fit 
illustration  of  sacred  learning  by  the  best  studies  of  modern 
literature  and  science,  and  for  the  true  consecration  of  the 
thought  of  the  time  by  the  lessons  of  sacred  learning.  The 
names  of  Buckminster  and  Everett,  and  of  their  successors  still 
living,  are  enough  to  show  that  in  this  century  it  has  not  been 
false  to  the  same  mission. 

This  church  stood  for  individual  liberty  in  contrast  to  the 
pressure  of  a  congregation,  and  for  modern  culture  in  the 
place  of  traditional  ritual  or  theology.  There  was  therefore, 
of  course,  no  question  where  it  would  be  found,  when  the 
religious  discussions  of  the  earlier  part  of  this  century  divided 
the  Congregational  communion  of  Massachusetts.  It  would  be 
hard,  perhaps,  to  name  four  men  associated  together  who  have 
done  more  service  to  the  liberal  communion  of  Congregation- 
alists  than  have  the  four  men  who  successively  filled  the  pulpit 
of  this  church  since  that  discussion  began.  For  eloquence,  for 
scholarship,  for  critical  knowledge  of  Scripture,  the  names  of 
Buckminster,  Everett,  and  Palfrey  have  been  pre-eminent  in  the 


39 

Unitarian  communion.  And  that  body,  in  the  organization  of 
its  missions  and  the  supervision  of  its  associated  action,  has  had 
no  officer  who  has  served  it  with  more  distinction  or  ability 
than  the  present  pastor  in  the  years  when  he  was  president  of 
its  missionary  association. 

The  church,  which  stood  once  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
fashionable  quarter  of  the  town,  has  long  since  been  far  north 
of  the  homes  of  its  worshippers.  To-morrow  they  meet  for  the 
last  time  beneath  the  roof  consecrated  by  so  many  memories. 
The  building  —  erected  by  a  pupil  of  Wren's,  in  an  architect- 
ure not  unworthy  of  the  school  from  which  it  sprung  —  is  to  be 
destroyed.  The  congregation  will  carry  to  their  new  home 
some  memorials  of  the  old.  The  cannon-ball  which  struck 
the  tower  when  the  "rebels"  of  1 775  fired  on  the  town  will 
be  placed  in  the  new  tower.  The  new  church,  like  the  old,  is 
to 

"  Bear  on  her  bosom,  as  a  bride  might  do, 
The  iron  breast-pin  that  the  rebels  threw." 

The  stately  mahogany  pulpit,  of  the  best  work  of  the  London 
taste  of  a  century  ago,  will  be  removed  also.  The  bell,  long  the 
heaviest  in  Boston,  will  call  together  the  worshippers.  And 
we  trust  that  the  corner-stone,  from  which  the  English  soldiery 
hacked  the  hated  name  of  John  Hancock,  may  be  the  head- 
stone of  the  new  corner. 

Will  it  not  be  possible,  as  a  new  square  of  buildings  grow 
up  around  the  newly  built  church,  to  give  to  it  Brattle's  name? 
—  that,  in  the  emigration  from  north  to  south,  the  "  Manifesto 
Church  "  may  still  stand  in  Brattle  Square. 

The  "  Daily  Evening  Transcript "  of  Saturday  called 
attention  to  the  services  to  be  held  the  next  day,  in  the 
following  sympathetic  and  commendatory  notice  :  — 

"The  Manifesto  Church  "  —  such  as  it  was  originally 
called, "for  protesting  against  some  Puritan  usages,  and  intro- 
ducing marked    innovations  in  the  direction  of  freedom  — will 


4° 

hold  its  last  services  to-morrow  in  the  old  Brattle  Street  (we 
say  old,  for  there  has  been  an  intimation  that  the  new  site  may 
retain  the  ancient  name).  The  day  can  hardly  fail  to  be  one 
of  deeply  interesting  historical  reminiscences  and  memorials 
covering  a  century  and  three  quarters.  The  story  of  this  con- 
secrated building,  so  imposing  and  solid  in  its  architecture,  and 
its  more  humble  predecessor,  has  been  so  frequently  told  that 
it  is  a  familiar  chapter  in  the  annals  of  Boston  and  New  Eng- 
land. But  those  annals  will  fail  to  record  the  unwritten,  and 
many  of  them  unspoken,  solemn,  and  tender  memories  and 
associations  connected  with  the  ancient  tabernacles.  These 
have  been  known  only  to  individual  experiences.  The  sacred 
uses  to  which  the  noble  building  has  been  put  through  scores 
of  years,  the  long  line  of  eminent  and  eloquent  preachers  that 
have  discoursed  of  Christian  truth  and  hope  beneath  its  roof, 
have  given  it  a  name  and  a  fame  unrivalled  by  any  other  church 
in  the  land,  and  hence  the  significance  of  the  farewell. 

Rev.  Samuel  K.  Lothrop,  D.D.,  has  already  been  the 
devoted,  respected,  and  beloved  pastor  of  the  Brattle-Street 
Society  for  thirty-seven  years.  And  as  he  takes  leave  of  the 
pulpit  from  which  he  has  so  long  spoken,  hosts  of  friends  will 
desire  for  him,  in  the  health  and  strength  of  his  veteran  powers, 
many  added  seasons  of  the  faithfulness  to  his  immediate  charge 
and  the  unwearied  practical  regard  for  the  best  interests  of 
Boston  he  has  so  constantly  and  signally  manifested. 

In  its  issue  of  Monday,  in  addition  to  the  report  of  the 
Sermon  in  its  columns,  the  "Transcript"  had  another 
pleasant  notice  of  the  occasion  and  the  services  at  the 
church  :  — 

Brattle-Street  Church.  —  The  services  of  yesterday, 
the  last  Sunday  of  public  worship  in  that  consecrated  edifice, 
are  quite  fully  reported  on  the  first  page.  No  printed  account, 
however,  will  give  their  impressive  significance,  as  that  was 
felt  by  the  great  congregation  present.  Several  causes  com- 
bined to   make  it  an  event  of  unusual   interest.     Associations, 


4i 

connected  with  grave  questions  of  religious  and  civil  liberty, 
have  made  the  name  of  the  structure  historic ;  whilst  as  a 
Christian  tabernacle,  in  its  succession  of  pastors  and  genera- 
tions of  parishioners,  its  story,  written  and  unwritten,  is 
crowded  with  the  profoundest  experience  of  the  human  lot  and 
the  human  life  ;  as  these  have  invoked  the  truths,  the  hopes, 
and  the  aspirations  of  that  faith  which  seeks  to  reconcile  this  lot 
and  life  with  the  spirit's  immortal  progress. 

No  wonder  then  that,  notwithstanding  the  unpropitious 
season  of  the  year,  the  gathering  filled  every  pew  and  almost 
packed  the  aisles.  No  wonder  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
church  —  their  church,  or  the  church  of  their  fathers  —  came, 
as  many  did,  from  far  and  near,  to  join  in  exercises  of  a  solemn 
leave-taking.  Thus  a  natural  public  interest  in  an  hour  over- 
flowing with  suggestion  was  largely  supplemented  by  the 
strictly  personal  feelings  of  individuals  and  home-circles. 

As  was  fitting,  Rev.  Dr.  Lothrop  was  assisted  by  some  of 
his  younger  brethren  who  had  gone  from  beneath  its  roof  to 
become  dispensers  of  the  Christian  truth  to  which  they  had 
there  first  listened.  His  own  discourse,  connected  with  ser- 
vices imposing  for  their  severe  simplicity,  and  what  may  be 
called,  for  that  reason,  their  traditional  appropriateness,  was  in 
all  respects  suitable  and  effective.  With  brief  passages  of  lucid 
explanation,  and  condensed  references  to  the  annals  of  the  past, 
the  preacher  resisted  the  temptation  to  explore  anew  the  rich 
field  those  annals  presented,  and  kept  himself  and  his  audience 
to  the  religious  sentiments  which  the  parting  hour  awoke  and 
for  which  it  demanded  expression. 

His  manly  words  were  eloquent  and  tender,  abounding  in 
reverence  for  the  former  days,  meeting  the  obligations  of  the 
present,  looking  hopefully  forward  to  the  future  ;  thus  setting 
forth  in  just  relations  the  changes  that  must  need  be  with  the 
reminiscences  clinging  to  them,  the  lessons  taught  and  the  re- 
sponsibilities imposed  as  the  centuries  ilow  irresistibly  onward. 
To  the  fine  apostrophe,  so  condensed,  and  yet  so  warm  with 
subdued  emotion,  whiclrclosed  the  discourse,  not  a  syllable  can 
be  added.     The  audience   present   accepted   it,  and    those  who 

6 


42 

read   it  will  do  the  same,  as  just  the  farewell  that  was  to  be 
uttered  to  interpret  the  occasion. 

The  "Christian  Register,"  in  its  number  for  Aug.  5, 
has  an  article, — "Old  Landmarks  Removed," — refer- 
ring to  and  suggested  by  the  farewell  service  at  Brattle 
Street :  — 

The  Old  Landmarks  going.  —  The  services  at  Brattle 
Square  last  Sunday,  a  report  of  which,  together  with  Dr. 
Lothrop's  Sermon,  occupies  so  large  a  space  in  our  columns, 
remind  us  forcibly  of  the  changes  which  are  taking  place  in 
Boston.  For  the  last  few  years  nearly  all  of  the  older  churches 
have  been  on  a  stampede  after  their  worshippers.  The  trade 
of  the  city  having  driven  the  old  Bostonians  out  of  their  family 
mansions,  and  left  the  churches  surrounded  with  stores,  the 
next  step  of  necessity  has  been  the  moving  of  the  churches,  so 
that  soon  the  Old  South  will  be  the  only  reminder,  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  of  the  church  edifices  of  a  former  generation. 
The  Federal-Street,  the  New  South,  the  First  Church,  the  Bap- 
tist Church  on  Chauncy  Street,  Rev.  Dr.  Adams's  on  Essex 
Street,  the  Catholic  Church  on  Franklin  Street,  the  Winter- 
Street, —  all  have  taken  up  their  line  of  march  to  the  newer 
parts  of  the  city.  The  Universalist  Church  in  School  Street, 
the  Second  Church  in  Bedford,  Trinity  in  Summer,  and  the 
old  church  in  Brattle  Square,  will  soon  give  way  for  stately 
stores,  and  the  places  where  they  stood  for  generations  will 
know  them  no  more. 

But  these  changes  mark  the  transitions  of  church  polity  and 
religious  opinions  as  distinctly  as  the  increase  of  the  city  in 
trade  and  the  moving  of  the  people.  The  sermon  of  Dr. 
Lothrop  illustrates  this.  "  The  Manifesto,"  when  written, 
contained  statements  of  principles,  and  recommendations  of 
changes,  which  were  regarded  as  somewhat  startling  innova- 
tions. Now  both  the  practices  and  principles  there  set  forth 
have  become  established  in  our  churches. 

Brattle  Square  is,  moreover,  specially  dear  to  the  Bostonians 
from  the  many  old  and  dear  memories  with  which   it  is  asso- 


43 

ciated.  It  has  had  a  ministry  of  eminent  scholarship  and  pul- 
pit gifts.  There  were  Colman,  Cooper,  and  Thaeher  of  a 
former  generation.  It  was  here  that  Buckminster,  '-the 
seraph  of  the  pulpit,"  thrilled  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  by  an 
eloquence  as  novel  as  it  was  fervent  and  glowing.  It  was 
here  that  Everett  began  that  career  as  a  public  speaker,  which, 
in  another  sphere,  has  given  a  grace  and  charm  to  American 
oratory.  It  was  here  that  Palfrey,  with  careful  scholarship 
and  conscientious  fidelity,  entered  upon  pulpit  labors,  which 
afterwards  ripened  into  the  professor  and  historian.  Its  pres- 
ent minister  has  had  a  long  and  faithful  pastorate,  and  is  widely 
known  for  his  pulpit  eloquence,  and  the  various  public  services 
which  he  has  performed  with  so  great  acceptance  and  ability. 

Then,  too,  the  edifice  itself  is  rich  in  associations.  It  is 
connected  with  the  struggles  and  the  memories  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. It  bears  the  handiwork  of  one  who  has,  by  his  genius 
in  church  designs,  left  an  imperishable  name.  But  though 
thus  rich  in  sacred  association,  this  church  must  yield  to  the 
changes  of  time.  The  Boston  of  a  former  generation,  with  its 
cluster  of  churches,  has  become  a  great  centre  of  trade.  The 
old  citizens,  one  by  one,  have  been  forced  to  give  up  their 
homes  and  churches  for  stores.  This  is  one  of  the  consequen- 
ces of  the  increase  of  Boston.  But  the  city  has  only  entered 
upon  her  new  enlargement.  She  is  pushing  out  in  every  quar- 
ter. The  future  is  rich  with  the  promise  of  added  wealth, 
population,  and  trade.  Will  Boston,  as  she  thus  is  favored 
with  material  prosperity,  maintain  the  higher  interests  of  cul- 
ture and  religion?  Will  this  city  be  the  abode  of  scholars  and 
artists  who  will  throw  the  light  of  their  influence  and  genius 
over  literature  and  social  life?  Will  our  ministers,  uniting 
reverence  and  love  of  freedom,  resist  the  present  temptation 
to  superficial  brilliancy,  and  by  earnest  and  profound  study 
work  to  advance  the  progress  of  Christian  truth,  and  strive  to 
build  up  churches  which  shall  be  both  sentinels  and  lights  to 
watch  the  public  morals  and  brighten  the  pathway  of  prog- 
ress? .  In  the  future  we  hope  to  see  Boston  maintain  that 
foremost  position  in  culture,  education,  and  religion  for  which 
she  has  heretofore  been  distinguished. 


44 

The  "Boston  Post,"  of  Monday,  July  31,  had  a  very 
full  description  of  the  whole  scene  and  service  at  the 
church  ;  and  its  reporter,  adhering  to  facts,  but  holding 
a  rhetorical  pen,  gave  such  play  to  feeling  and  imagina- 
tion as  to  present  a  very  vivid  picture.  From  his 
description  we  make  the  following  extracts  :  — 

The  Services  Yesterday.  —  Yesterday  morning  services 
were  held  in  the  time-honored  edifice  for  the  last  time.  The 
weather  was  cloudy  and  threatening,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to 
deter  those  who  would  come  from  coming  ;  .  .  .  and  a  most 
unusual,  but  under  the  circumstances  perfectly  natural,  interest 
was  manifested  in  the  event.  It  was  no  common  one  that  of 
taking  leave  of  such  a  place  as  Brattle-Street  Church.  There 
were  many  moist  eyes  to  be  seen  amongst  the  congregation. 
There  were  many  old  niches  looked  into  for  a  parting  thought. 
There  was  a  historic  fact  to  many  attaching  to  every  window 
and  every  pillar,  and  the  pulpit  and  the  organ  spoke  volumes. 
.  .  .  There,  in  i/75>  had  stood  a  stack  of  arms.  By  that  win- 
dow an  officer  had  hacked  at  the  queer  old  carvings,  and  the 
marks  of  his  sabre  are  to  be  seen  there  still.  There,  by  the 
pulpit,  had  been  grouped  the  flags  of  Great  Britain.  Around, 
everywhere,  had  been  scattered  the  cots  of  the  soldiery.  One 
could  trace  the  precise  spot  back  of  where  the  cannon-ball 
had  struck,  and  imagine  what  consternation  reigned  in  the 
barrack  when  from  the  line  of  the  American  fortifications  the 
shot  was  fast  dropping  into  the  Square,  and  the  dismal 
portents  of  a  driving  rain-storm  filled  the  air.  Thoughts 
such  as  these  recurred  to  one  sitting  in  the  church  while 
the  congregation  was  coming  in,  and  there  was  plenty  of  time 
to  reflect. 

At  half-past  ten  o'clock  the  organist,  Mr.  I.  I.  Harwood, 
seated   himself  before   the   sacred   instrument  and   played   an  ■ 
appropriate  prelude.   .   .   .  By  this  time  the  church  was  crowd- 
ed  to   overflowing.     The  pews,  the  galleries,  the   aisles,  the 
doorways,  were  filled  completely.     There  was   no   room   for 


45 

more,  and  it  all  went  to  prove  that  the  traditions  of  the  old 
edifice  are  not  yet  quite  forgotten,  and  that  they  will  not  soon 
be.  From  the  galleries,  to  one  looking  down  into  the  body  of 
the  church,  the  scene  was  deeply  impressive.  The  sturdy 
array  of  pillars  on  either  side,  the  antique  mouldings,  the  pews 
panelled  in  green,  the  brocatelle  curtains  on  the  brass  rods 
around  the  galleries,  the  curiously  shaped  windows  and  the 
wide  sills,  the  heavy  green  blinds  through  which  the  daylight 
found  its  way  in  a  subdued  form  and  fell  upon  the  upturned 
faces  and  touched  them  all  and  every  thing  with  a  hallowed 
tint,  and  the  worn  and  faded  furnishings  were  such  as  to  fill  a 
stranger  with  thoughts  akin  to  sadness  in  remembrance  of  the 
occasion.  In  the  pulpit  sat  Dr.  Lothrop,  ...  by  his  side  the 
Rev.  E.  E.  Hale.  On  the  table  in  front  were  a  few  flowers, 
and  at  each  end  of  the  large  Bible  was  a  bouquet  of  beautiful 
exotics.   .  .   . 

After  some  further  description  of  the  scene  and  the 
services,  and  a  full  report  of  the  Sermon,  the  "Post" 
closes  with  the  following  reference  to  — 

The  Music.  —  The  musical  portion  of  the  exercises  calls 
for  more  than  a  mere  passing  mention.  The  selections  were 
all  in  the  best  taste  possible,  and  were  performed  with  remark- 
ably fine  effect.  The  organ,  though  nearly  one  hundred  years 
old,  has  lost  none  of  that  purity  and  rotundity  of  tone  for 
which  it  has  long  been  famous,  and  yesterday  it  seemed  to  be 
conscious  of  the  peculiar  solemnity  of  the  day,  so  grand  and 
beautiful  were  the  effects  educed  from  it.  It  will  be  of  interest 
to  state,  in  passing,  that  it  is  probable  that  a  large  part  of  the 
old  organ  will  be  recast  and  incorporated  in  the  new  one. 
Beside  the  organist,  the  choir  consisted  of  Mrs.  1. 1.  Harwood, 
soprano;  Mrs.  J.  Rametti,  alto;  Mr.  D.  W.  Loring,  tenor; 
and  Mr.  C.  E.  Pickett,  bass;  and  this  quartette  was  assisted 
in  the  chorus  passages  by  Mrs.  Tower,  soprano,  and  Mr.  Gah- 
ri.tt,  bass,  both  former  members  of  the  choir.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harwood  came  to  the  city  from  York,  Maine,  where  they  were 


46 

passing  a  summer  vacation,  for  the  express  purpose  of  being 
present  at,  and  attending  to  the  music  of,  these  farewell  ser- 
vices. The  selections  consisted  of  an  opening  quartette  from 
T.  Sterndale  Bennett's  oratorio,  "  The  Woman  of  Samaria  ;  " 
"God  is  a  Spirit,"  sung  without  the  organ;  a  Gloria,  "Now 
unto  the  King  Eternal,"  following  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  the  hymn,  "While  Thee  I  seek,  Protecting  Power," 
sung  to  the  celebrated  and  beautiful  tune,  "  Brattle  Street,"  by 
Pleyel ;  a  Chant,  "  O  Sing  unto  the  Lord,"  by  James  Turle  ; 
and  the  concluding  Doxology,  "  From  all  that  dwell  below 
the  skies,"  sung  to  Old  Hundred.  The  voices  of  the  singers 
blended  perfectly,  and  the  execution  of  the  various  tunes  and 
anthems  was  highly  artistic  and  deserving  of  unstinted  praise. 
Mr.  Harwood  handled  the  organ  with  appreciative  and  excep- 
tional skill.  Mrs.  Harwood's  voice  is  a  clear,  high  and  ringing 
soprano,  equally  good  in  each  of  the  registers,  while  Mrs. 
Rametti  possesses  a  contralto  of  remarkable  sweetness.  Mr. 
Loring's  tenor  and  Mr.  Pickett's  bass  are  also  conspicuously 
excellent,  and  the  whole  choir  may  rightfully  congratulate 
itself  upon  having  achieved  a  genuine  musical  triumph,  despite 
the  very  unfavorable  condition  of  the  weather. 

It  will  be  long  before  the  last  services  in  the  old  church  in 
Brattle  Square  will  be  forgotten. 

The  "Post's"  reference  to  the  music,  and  criticism  of 
it,  are  altogether  appropriate  and  just,  and,  as  an  inter- 
esting addition  and  close  to  it,  we  publish  what  to  some 
is  a  well-known  and  unquestionably  authentic  tradition 
in  Brattle-Square  Church,  in  regard  to  the  hymn, 
"While  Thee  I  seek,  Protecting  Power,"  and  the  tune, 
"  Brattle  Street,"  to  which  it  is  almost  invariably  sung. 
When  Rev.  Mr.  Buckminster  returned  from  Europe  in 
1807,  he  brought  with  him  a  manuscript  copy  of  this 
hymn,  presented  to  him  by  its  celebrated  author,  Helen 
Maria  Williams.  It  is  probable  that  this  was  the  first 
copy  of  this  hymn  that  had  reached  America.      It  had 


47 

certainly  never  been  adopted  or  used  in  public  worship. 
Very  soon  after  his  return,  Mr.  Buckminster,  whose 
knowledge  of  music  was  as  thorough  as  his  love  of  it 
was  ardent,  in  conjunction,  says  tradition,  with  Hon. 
Nahum  Mitchell  and  Bartholomew  Brown,  Esq.,  altered 
a  piece  of  Pleyel's  instrumental  music,  adapting  it  to  the 
hymn,  and  the  two  were  sung  for  the  first  time  in  this 
country  at  Brattle-Street  Church,  in  the  autumn  of  1807. 
Wedded  together  then  and  there,  the  union  has  been  so 
universally  recognized  and  approved  for  nearly  seventy 
years,  that  any  attempt  at  divorce  is  immediately  con- 
demned. Few  congregations  would  be  pleased  at  hear- 
ing that  hymn  sung  to  any  but  this  tune,  which  was  at 
first  called  "  Hymn  Second,"  and  once  published  under 
the  name  of  "  Bengal,"  but  was  soon,  — as  early  as  181 1, 
—  in  honor  of  Mr.  Buckminster  and  the  church  where  it 
was  first  sung,  called  "  Brattle  Street,"  and  is  now  uni- 
versally known  and  designated  by  that  name. 


THE     NEW 

BRATTLE-SQUARE    CHURCH. 
Haohtg  tfjc  Corner  Stone* 


r  I  ^HE  corner-stone  of  the  new  Brattle-Square  Church, 
corner  of  Commonwealth  Avenue  and  Clarendon 
Street,  was  laid  on  Thursday,  September  14,  with  simple 
but  appropriate  and  interesting  services,  which  opened 
with  the  reading  of  some  passages  of  Scripture  and 
prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lothrop.  Mr.  John  Gard- 
ner, chairman  of  the  Building  Committee,  then  read 
the  following 

REPORT    OF   THE    COMMITTEE. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  meet  on  this  occasion  to  lay  the  corner- 
stone of  the  new  Brattle-Square  Church,  and  place  within  it 
some  historical  records  of  the  church  and  society,  whose  origin 
dates  back  to  1699,  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  years  ago. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  name  the  eminent,  learned,  and 
pious  men  who  have  so  successfully  preached  from  its  pulpit. 
History  bears  evidence  to  the  great  and  good  work  done  by 
each  in  his  day  and  generation.  Perhaps,  also,  no  Christian 
society  in  the  land  has  counted  among  its  members  from  time 
to  time  so  great  a  number  of  eminent  statesmen,  whose  influ-- 
ence  throughout  the  whole  country  did  so  much  to  mould  pub- 
lic opinion,  and  establish  the  republican  government  tinder 
which  we  now  live. 


49 

Governor  Hancock  and  Governor  Bowdoin  were  both  wor- 
shippers at  Brattle  Square,  were  liberal  contributors  towards 
its  support,  and  large  donors  towards  the  erection  in  1772  of 
the  edifice  that  has  just  been  sold.  At  later  periods,  the  Presi- 
dents, John  Adams  and  John  Quincy  Adams ;  the  celebrated 
lawyers,  Samuel  Dexter,  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  Daniel  Webster, 
Chief  Justice  Parker,  Judge  Peter  Oxembridge  Thacher,  and 
James  T.  Austin  ;  Drs.  John  and  J.  C.  Warren,  the  brothers 
Sullivan,  Gen.  Dearborn,  Alexander  Everett,  Benjamin 
Crowninshield ;  also  many  liberal,  distinguished  and  influ- 
ential merchants,  Thomas  Russell,  Theodore  Lyman,  Hen- 
derson Inches,  William,  Amos,  and  Abbott  Lawrence,  as  well 
as  many  others  that  might  be  mentioned,  were  at  some  time 
proprietors  and  worshippers  at  Brattle-Square  Church. 

The  idea  was  expressed  by  Dr.  Palfrey,  in  his  sermon 
preached  at  the  installation  of  our  much-respected  pastor, 
'■  You  must  bear  in  mind  that  what  you  preach  from  this  desk 
will  be  heard  by  those  whose  positions  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation  will  take  the  sentiments  uttered  here  and  disseminate 
them  throughout  the  wide  domain  of  the  country." 

Some  five  years  since  it  became  apparent  that  the  location 
of  the  church  in  Brattle  Square,  surrounded  as  it  was  by  the 
encroaching  demands  of  trade  and  commerce,  was  no  longer 
adapted  to  the  wants  or  convenience  of  the  society,  and  that 
some  new  location  nearer  the  homes  of  its  members,  and  more 
agreeable  of  access,  must  be  sought  and  obtained.  At  that 
time  the  lot  we  now  stand  on  was  purchased  by  some  members 
of  the  parish  with  the  purpose  of  offering  it  at  the  low  price 
paid  for  it  to  the  society,  whenever  it  should  vote  to  remove. 
No  better  spot,  we  think,  could  then  or  since  have  been  secured. 
Its  prominence  from  every  point  of  view,  its  central  position 
on  this  broad  avenue,  its  proximity  to  the  increasing  population 
in  this  southern  and  western  part  of  the  city,  and  its  short  dis- 
tance from  Beacon  Hill,  commend  the  site  as  a  good  selection. 
It  will  soon  be  surrounded  by  the  residences  of  a  population 
of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand. 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  society,  when  fully  author- 

7 


5° 

ized  to  sell  the  church  and  property  in  Brattle  Square  and 
erect  a  suitable  church  on  some  more  commodious  spot,  decided 
at  once  to  accept  this  lot  from  the  parishioners,  who  had  pur- 
chased and  were  ready  to  transfer  it  by  deed  to  the  society. 

The  church  property  in  Brattle  Street  is  sold.  Contracts 
were  made  some  months  since  for  the  erection  of  this  structure, 
which  is  being  built  in  the  Norman-Lombardic  style  of  archi- 
tecture, and  of  materials  such  as  you  see  before  you,  —  Rox- 
bury  stone,  and  brown  sand-stone.  Unlike  any  other  church 
in  the  city,  it  will  have  an  imposing  tower  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety  feet  in  height.  The  cost  of  the  whole  land 
and  structure  will  not  be  far  from  the  resources  we  shall  have 
at  command.  And  when  we  have  put  this  stone  with  its  con- 
tents in  its  place,  on  that  solid  foundation  under  the  ponderous 
tower  to  be  erected,  may  it  rest  there  for  centuries  to  come, 
undisturbed  by  earthquakes,  revolutions,  or  contending  armies. 
May  this  temple  stand  unscathed,  save  by  the  hand  of  time, 
and  from  its  altar  may  there  go  forth  all  good  influences  and 
religious  instructions,  teaching  love  to  one  another,  adora- 
tion of  God,  and  love  for  our  Redeemer,  till  time  shall  be 
no  more. 

At  the  close  of  his  remarks,  Mr.  Gardner  enumerated 
the  contents  of  the  sealed  box,  which  were  as  follows  :  — 

The  Daily  Advertiser,  of  July  31,  1871,  containing  the  sermon  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Lothrop,  the  minister  of  the  church,  on  the  30th  of  July,  being 
the  last  service  held  in  the  church  in  Brattle  Square. 

A  history  of  the  church  and  society,  written  by  Rev.  S.  K.  Lothrop, 
published  in  1851. 

Charter  granted  by  the  legislature  in  1822,  with  a  list  of  the  ministers 
of  the  church  from  1698,  with  the  by-laws  of  the  church. 

Charter  granted  by  the  legislature  in  1871. 

Copies  of  the  following  papers  :  Daily  Advertiser,  dated  September 
14,  1871  ;  Boston  Morning  Post  and  Weekly,  September  14,  1871  j 
Boston  Journal,  September  14,  1871  ;  Boston  Evening  Transcript, 
September  13  and  14,  1871,  and  Weekly;  Boston  Evening  Travel- 
ler, September  14;  Boston  Christian  Register,  September  9;  New 
York  Liberal  ( 'kristian,  September  9. 


51 

Photographs  of  the  pastor  and  several  others. 

Copper  cent  of  1S03  ;  copper  cent  of  171 5  ;  silver  six-cent  piece,  of 

Philip  V.  of  Spain,  1737.     These  coins  were  found  on  the  premises 

of  the  old  church. 

The  box  was  then  set  with  cement  in  the  proposed 
cavity  by  Dr.  Lothrop,  assisted  by  the  chairman  of  the 
Building  Committee  and  the  contracting  mason,  Mr. 
Augustus  Lothrop ;  and  the  corner-stone  was  lowered 
into  its  place.  The  anthem,  "  God  is  a  Spirit,"  was  then 
sung  ;  after  which,  Dr.  Lothrop  delivered  the  following 
address  :  — 

My  Christian  Friends,  and  especially  Members  and  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  Society  recently  worshipping  in  Brattle 
Square,  — 

The  chairman  of  the  Building  Committee,  Mr. 
Gardner,  at  the  opening  of  this  service  stated  to  you 
its  purpose.  That  purpose  has  now  been  substan- 
tially accomplished.  He,  in  conjunction  with  his  as- 
sociates on  the  committee,  and  myself  as  pastor  (in  the 
regretted  absence  of  our  deacon,  Mr.  P.  T.  Homer,  to 
whom  this  service  was  assigned),  have  just  laid  the 
corner-stone  of  our  new  church,  depositing  within  and 
beneath  it  a  box  (whose  contents  have  been  stated),  to 
remain  there  unseen  by  mortal  eyes,  until  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  and  the  progress  of  time  this  church,  too, 
shall  have  fulfilled  its  mission,  and  receive  its  mandate  to 
depart.  The  occasion  has  a  meaning  and  significance, 
lessons  of  duty  and  of  hope.  It  awakens  memories, 
enforces  obligations,  is  an  expression  of  feelings,  prin- 
ciples, purposes,  which  are  swelling  in  all  our  hearts, 
but  which  it  is  not  necessary  I  should  undertake  here 
and  now  fully  to  set  forth.  Let  me  simplv  say  that,  as 
a  religious  society,  we  gather  here  to-day  as  pilgrims 
and  strangers,  without  house  or  home,  seeking  to  lay  the 


52 

foundations,  to  build  here  the  walls  of  a  new  habitation, 
a  new  religious  home,  for  ourselves,  our  families,  and 
the  generations  who  may  come  after  us.  Even  as  our 
Fathers,  of  glorious  and  blessed  memory  —  the  Pilgrims 
of  1620,  '30,  and  '34  —  at  the  sacrifice  of  many  sacred 
associations  and  tender  affections,  in  the  spirit  of  a  devout 
faith,  at  the  call  of  conscience  and  duty,  tore  themselves 
away,  turned  their  backs  upon  the  dear  old  churches,  the 
sacred  spots  and  happy  homes  of  England,  and  came 
over  to  this  land,  to  build  here  new  churches  and  new 
homes,  and  to  worship  and  serve  God  under  broader  and 
fairer  opportunities,  —  so  we  have  given  our  hearts  a  ter- 
rible wrench,  our  memories  and  affections  a  painful 
shock  ;  we  have  abandoned,  torn  ourselves  away  from 
a  noble  old  church,  —  grand,  solemn,  imposing  in  itself, 
but  so  surrounded,  pressed  upon,  buried,  as  it  were, 
beneath  the  gathering  accumulations  of  the  world  in  its 
growing  business  and  enterprise,  as  to  have  lost  those 
properties  of  convenience  and  invitation  which  should 
mark  a  church, — we  have  torn  ourselves  away  from  this, 
—  at  what  pain,  none  but  those  of  us  who  have  done  it 
can  estimate,  —  and  come  down  here  to  this  new  and 
more  open  spot,  that  we  may  build  here  a  new  house  of 
worship,  establish  here  a  new  religious  home,  enshrine 
in  it  all  the  memories  of  the  past,  embark  and  intrust  to 
it  all  the  hopes  of  the  future,  and,  in  it  and  through  it, 
give  to  our  religious  organization,  and  to  the  freedom  and 
simplicity  of  that  Congregational  faith  and  worship  it  aims 
to  uphold,  a  fairer  and  broader  opportunity  to  grow  and 
expand,  to  exert  more  and  more  its  beneficent  influence  as 
a  permanent  and  pervading  power  in  this  community. 

My  friends,  I  rejoice,  —  but  knowing  most  of  you,  your. 
Christian  sentiments  and  spirit,  so  well  as  I  do,  I  may  use 
the  plural  number,  and  say  we,  —  we  all  rejoice   in  the 
religious  liberty  enjoyed  in  our  country,  where  each  and 


53 

all  are  free  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  consciences.  We  rejoice  in  ever}'  token  of  a  living 
faith  and  earnest  zeal  displayed  by  any  of  the  denomina- 
tions of  Christian  men  and  women  that  compose  our 
community.  We  rejoice  in  every  indication,  no  matter 
bv  whom  made,  that  God  is  recognized  and  worshipped, 
Christ  received,  reverenced,  obeyed,  and  his  Gospel 
made  the  inspiration  and  law  of  life  to  the  soul.  And,  as 
we  stand  here  to-day,  in  this  southern  and  western  part 
of  our  growing  city,  and  look  around  upon  its  increasing 
number  of  new  churches,  —  upon  those  whose  spires, 
pointing  towards  heaven,  show  that  they  are  already 
completed,  and  upon  those  whose  foundations  are  just 
begun,  —  as  we  look  around  upon  them  all,  from  the 
majestic  and  massive  Cathedral  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
to  the  church  whose  corner-stone  was  laid  yesterday,  we 
bid  them  all  God  speed.  May  they  all  be  fountains  of 
living  waters  to  them  that  drink  thereat.  May  they  all 
redound  to  the  glory  of  God,  the  honor  of  Christ,  and 
the  good  of  man.  May  they  all  stand  for  the  defence 
and  furtherance  of  Christian  light  and  love,  holiness  and 
truth,  for  the  regeneration  of  the  world  and  the  salva- 
tion of  souls.  We  would  come  among  them,  not  in  the 
spirit  of  opposition,  or  a  narrow,  sectarian  bigotry,  but  in 
the  spirit  of  Christian  respect  and  sympathy,  to  strive  by 
competing  in  love  and  zeal  to  promote  the  highest  and 
best  interests,  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
this  community.  But,  while  we  thus  embrace  all  with 
a  broad  catholic  charity,  and  desire  to  live  in  peace  with 
all,  we  cleave  closest,  we  love  deepest,  we  respect  most 
profoundly,  we  give  faith,  heart,  conscience,  and  our 
best  service  to  that  simple,  free,  independent  Congrega- 
tionalism which  we  have  received  from  our  Fathers ; 
which,  as  a  form  of  Gospel  administration,  was  the 
pristine  glory  of  New  England  ;  to  which  she  owes  so 


54 

much  that  is  honorable  in  her  history  and  noble  in  her 
character ;  to  which  the  ancestors  of  so  many  of  us  were 
martyrs  and  servants  in  England  and  in  this  country  ; 
and  which,  as  we  read  and  interpret  the  New  Testament, 
corresponds,  in  organization,  form,  and  service,  more 
nearly  than  any  other  to  those  primitive  Christian  churches, 
which  Paul  and  the  apostles  planted  around  the  shores 
of  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  in  the  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  We  are  sad  when  any  one  of  these  old 
Congregational  churches  dies  out,  becomes  extinct. 
We  rejoice  when  any  one  of  them  is  spiritually  renovated, 
imbued  with  fresh  life,  placed  (as  we  are  endeavoring 
to  place  ours)  in  a  position  to  prolong  its  existence,  and 
increase  its  power,  and  become  more  and  more  a  living 
church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  therefore, 
brethren,  and  ought  to  be,  in  gladness  and  gratitude 
that  we  meet  here  to-day,  and,  with  prayer  and  supplica- 
tion, lay  the  corner-stone  of  our  new  church.  From 
this  hour  let  sacred  associations  and  interests  begin  to 
gather  in  our  hearts  around  this  spot,  leading  us  to  for- 
get the  things  that  are  behind  and  press  forward  to  those 
that  are  before,  —  forget  them  so  far  as  their  memory 
would  be  a  clog  to  our  zeal,  a  hindrance  to  our  efforts,  a 
palsy  upon  our  energy ;  remember  them  only  to  make 
them  an  inspiration  to  faith,  hope,  courage,  to  every 
thing  demanded  of  us  to  carry  forward  to  completion  the 
goodly  Christian  work  we  have  undertaken,  and  have 
here  and  now  asked  God  to  bless.  Let  us  so  remember 
the  past  and  so  embrace  the  future  that  both  may  quicken 
and  invigorate  our  fidelity. 

Brethren,  the  independent  Congregational  Church  — 
the  "  manifesto  "  church  of  1699  which  has  come  down 
to  us  by  inheritance  and  descent,  and  which  we  here 
represent,  —  in  its  history,  character,  principles  is  worthy 
of  our  regard   and   our   devoted   service.      It  combines 


55 

and  harmonizes,  to  as  great  an  extent  as  is  practicable, 
the  principles  of  authority  and  freedom  ;  maintaining,  as 
a  body  or  religious  society,  its  own  independence  of  all 
external  authority  by  its  subjection  to  the  Master  in  his 
great  revelation,  and  securing  the  freedom  of  every 
individual  member  of  the  body  in  the  interpretation  of 
that  revelation.  The  great  declaration  of  its  covenant  is, 
"We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  heaven  and  earth ;  and  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  prom- 
ised Messiah  and  Saviour  of  the  world  ;  and  receive  the 
holy  Scriptures  as  a  revelation  of  the  mind  and  will  of 
God  to  men  for  their  salvation."  The  great  demand 
—  the  simple,  grand,  comprehensive  demand  —  which 
it  makes  upon  every  one  who  would  join  in  its  service  at 
the  table  of  Communion  is  one  that  recognizes  liberty 
and  supposes  progress.  "Will  you  endeavor  to  yield 
obedience  to  every  truth  of  God  that  has  been  or  shall 
be  made  known  to  you  as  your  duty,  the  Lord  assisting 
you  by  his  Spirit  and  grace?"  It  is  because  we  believe 
these  declarations  and  principles  to  be  the  spiritual  corner- 
stones of  the  spiritual  Church  of  Christ,  that  we  seek  to 
transplant  them  from  the  original  spot  where  our  Fathers 
embodied  them  in  temple  and  worship  to  this  new  spot, 
that  here  they  may  take  fresh  root,  spring  up  strong  and 
fruitful,  and  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  nourish  the 
spiritual  life  of  many  generations.  Let  us  prosecute  this 
work,  so  happily  begun,  with  a  zeal  and  fidelity  worthy 
of  its  character  and  importance  ;  and  may  God  continue 
to  bless  it  with  the  smiles  of  his  favor.  May  this  church 
go  steadily  forward  to  completion  without  delay  or  acci- 
dent, or  loss  of  life  or  limb  to  any  engaged  in  erecting  it. 
When  it  stands  finished  throughout  from  its  firm  founda- 
tions to  the  capstones  of  its  lofty  tower,  may  the  blessed 
Providence  permit  us  to  gather  here  with  devout  and  grate- 
ful hearts,  and,  in  the  spirit  of  a  holy  faith,  consecrate  it 


56 

to  the  worship  of  the  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty  ;  to 
the  honor  and  service  of  his  only  begotten  Son,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  And,  so  long  as  its  walls  shall  stand,  and 
men  and  women  gather  in  it  for  worship,  in  Christian 
faith  and  trust,  may  the  Father  and  the  Son  make  it  the 
scene  and  the  channel  through  which  to  shed  down,  in 
rich  abundance,  those  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which 
are  for  the  consolation,  the  enlightenment  and  redemp- 
tion of  the  world;  and  may  we,  brethren,  when  we  come 
to  worship  within  these  walls,  and  may  all  who  come 
after  us,  see  to  it  that,  through  these  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  our  own  efforts  and  prayers,  the  spiritual 
temple  of  a  holy  Christian  character  —  more  glorious 
and  beautiful  than  any  outward  temple,  —  be  built  up  in 
our  hearts. 


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